William Malone

Dillon Gee was the 2017 version of what Dallas Keuchel did for the Twins in 2023. In fact, he was probably a little bit better. While he didn’t have quite the same name value, Gee was still a  veteran in his 30’s who provided value as an innings eater late in the season after impressing at Triple-A on a minor league deal.
Gee had a solid 3.91 ERA over 103 starts with the Mets from 2010-14, but he struggled out of the gate in 2015 before getting buried by a crop of young Mets starters. He sat there and watched as New York reached the World Series in 2015, and then he began to bounce around the league a bit.
Minnesota signed him to a minor league deal on June 22, 2017. Triple-A Rochester seemed almost too easy for Gee. He made five starts there, allowing zero runs in three of them. The Twins called him up in early August, and he jumped into a hybrid pitching role. Whatever they needed that day, Gee would take on that challenge. Starting pitcher, close games, blowouts, short relief, long relief, save situations, entering a clean inning or with runners on base. Gee did it all for the Twins.
Gee made three starts and was called on for 11 relief appearances during his two months in Minnesota, posting a 3.22 ERA over 36.1 innings. He went 3-2 with a save and a hold. This helped Minnesota earn the second AL wild card spot, getting them to the postseason for the first time since 2010.
He signed with the Chunichi Dragons of the NBP in the off-season, posting a 4.00 ERA during his one season in Japan. Gee then retired after the 2018 season.
 

Minnesota acquired veteran outfielder Sam Fuld off of waivers from the Athletics very early in the 2014 season. The 32-year old was hitting just .200 through seven games with Oakland, and carried a career OPS+ of 79.
Fuld then began to play some of his best baseball during his time with the Twins. He collected two hits in his Twins debut, including an RBI single against Rays reliever Brandon Gomes. That was followed up by two more multi-hit games, and a five game hitting streak to begin his Twins tenure. Fuld quickly became the team’s regular centerfielder, replacing a struggling Aaron Hicks.
He never hit for much power, but Fuld played good defense and had a .370 on-base percentage over 53 games in Minnesota. This is compared to the .307 OBP that Fuld sports for his eight year Major League career. His performance made him good enough to flip at the deadline. Ironically, the team who traded for him was the same team who had waived him in April. Oakland sent Tommy Milone back to the Twins for a guy they let leave for nothing just three months earlier.
Fuld would remain in Oakland during the 2015 season, batting .197 over 120 games. That would be the end of his big league playing career. He slashed .227/.307/.325 (.632) over 598 games with the Cubs, Rays, Athletics, and Twins. Fuld was also worth 30 defensive runs saved in the outfield.
The end of his playing career was not his final chapter in the Majors though. He was hired as the Phillies player information coordinator in 2017, and the industry immediately identified him as a rising front office star. The Blue Jays interviewed Fuld for their managerial job after the 2018 season, and he was seen as a strong candidate until withdrawing his name from consideration. Pittsburgh also showed interest in hiring Fuld as their general manager in 2019, but the job went to Ben Cherington instead.
Philadelphia eventually did promote Fuld to general manager in December 2020, making him the number two man for President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski.

Minnesota acquired veteran outfielder Sam Fuld off of waivers from the Athletics very early in the 2014 season. The 32-year old was hitting just .200 through seven games with Oakland, and carried a career OPS+ of 79.
Fuld then began to play some of his best baseball during his time with the Twins. He collected two hits in his Twins debut, including an RBI single against Rays reliever Brandon Gomes. That was followed up by two more multi-hit games, and a five game hitting streak to begin his Twins tenure. Fuld quickly became the team’s regular centerfielder, replacing a struggling Aaron Hicks.
He never hit for much power, but Fuld played good defense and had a .370 on-base percentage over 53 games in Minnesota. This is compared to the .307 OBP that Fuld sports for his eight year Major League career. His performance made him good enough to flip at the deadline. Ironically, the team who traded for him was the same team who had waived him in April. Oakland sent Tommy Milone back to the Twins for a guy they let leave for nothing just three months earlier.
Fuld would remain in Oakland during the 2015 season, batting .197 over 120 games. That would be the end of his big league playing career. He slashed .227/.307/.325 (.632) over 598 games with the Cubs, Rays, Athletics, and Twins. Fuld was also worth 30 defensive runs saved in the outfield.
The end of his playing career was not his final chapter in the Majors though. He was hired as the Phillies player information coordinator in 2017, and the industry immediately identified him as a rising front office star. The Blue Jays interviewed Fuld for their managerial job after the 2018 season, and he was seen as a strong candidate until withdrawing his name from consideration. Pittsburgh also showed interest in hiring Fuld as their general manager in 2019, but the job went to Ben Cherington instead.
Philadelphia eventually did promote Fuld to general manager in December 2020, making him the number two man for President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski.